Restaurant Management System Correcting a Restaurant Operating Deficiency

ABSTRACT

A restaurant management system and method interface is provided. In accordance with the invention, data from various restaurant operations is collected and stored for processing. The data is processed into useful metrics, such as those indicative of various categories of restaurant staffing, efficiency, performance and quality. The useful metrics can be displayed as a human-readable chart, graph or report. The data can be processed in real time, permitting managers to promptly make adjustments and to alert restaurant workers or crew members of deficiencies so that prompt and effective remedial action can be taken to improve restaurant performance. Reports may be generated that provide the performance of restaurants individually and as a combined group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/798,948, filed on Apr. 14, 2010, pending, the entire disclosure ofwhich is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to systems and methods for restaurantmanagement and more particularly to automated systems and methods forrestaurant management.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Restaurants in general, and in particular quick service restaurants, canoperate multiple shifts per day and require substantial staffing andmanagement. Indeed, it is now common for a quick service restaurant tobe open 24 hours a day, necessitating three 8-hour shifts or four 6-hourshifts per day, for example.

In addition, typical quick service restaurants offer menus thattypically change substantially from breakfast and lunch and/or dinner,increasing the complexity of a restaurant's operation. In addition, itis important for quick service restaurants to use uniform procedures andoperations to help ensure uniform, high quality food to maximizecustomer satisfaction.

Another important aspect in the operation of restaurants and especiallyquick service restaurants is efficient service. Consequently, it isimportant that service times be minimized and to the extent possible beuniformly fast throughout the day.

Typically, a quick service restaurant employs various personnelincluding crew members that are responsible for performing activitiessuch as equipment operation, food preparation, interfacing withcustomers which typically includes taking orders, obtaining payment andorder delivery to customers. Typically, a shift manager or othersupervisory personnel will be employed during a particular shift toensure that the quick service restaurant is operating efficiently.

A need exists for a restaurant management system and method that can beused by, for example, a shift manager or other supervisory and executivepersonnel to improve the quality, service and efficiency of restaurantoperations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, a system and method for restaurantmanagement is provided. In accordance with broad aspects of theinvention, data from various restaurant operations is collected andstored for processing. The data is processed into useful metrics, suchas those indicative of various categories of restaurant staffing,efficiency, performance and quality. The useful metrics can be displayedas a human-readable chart, graph or report. The data can be processed inreal time, permitting managers to promptly make adjustments and to alertrestaurant workers or crew members of deficiencies so that prompt andeffective remedial action can be taken to improve restaurantperformance. A restaurant manager can use the report to improve staffinglevels and scheduling, efficiency, performance and quality of restaurantoperations. More efficient restaurant operation can result in improvedprofitability and customer satisfaction. In addition, data can becollected or processed for more than one restaurant, such as for a groupof restaurants, that may be under common ownership or management, or foran entire region or on a companywide basis. Reports may be generatedthat provide the performance of restaurants individually and as acombined group. The reports can be available to various levels ofmanagement, such as from restaurant shift managers on up to the highestexecutive levels of a large restaurant chain.

The data can be obtained from, for example, various sources as desired,including from point-of-sale (POS) devices, drive-thru detectors, kioskswhere customers can insert orders and order stations (which kiosks andorder stations may be located as desired, including in or at adrive-thru lane or location, in the store, outside of the store and evenat a location remote from the store), restaurant task completiondevices, employee operated input and signaling devices and from customerinput.

The types of data collected can take numerous and various forms, and canbe tailored to the operation of a particular restaurant or group ofrestaurants. Examples of such data include, for example: (1) order data,such as orders and/or sales of food products by type, quantity, price;(2) customer counts; (3) vehicle counts through drive-thru facilities;(4) scheduled staffing levels; (5) actual staffing levels; (6) neededstaffing; (7) food safety completion checks; (8) equipment preventivemaintenance tasks; (9) front counter service times; (10) drive-thruservice times; (11) completion of order times; and (12) time to assembleorder from completion of food preparation.

Many useful metrics can be produced by the restaurant management systemthat results from the foregoing data.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, it has beendiscovered that quick service restaurants have key performanceindicators. These performance indicators can have target values andrestaurant efficiency, performance and profitability is increased bymeeting the target performance indicators, and where the performanceindicators are not met by making adjustments in the restaurant operationso that there is an improvement in the performance indicators. These keyperformance indicators are the following metrics for the operation of aquick service restaurant: (1) sales projection accuracy; (2) customer orguest count projection efficiency; (3) actual versus scheduledrestaurant crew hours; (4) actual versus needed restaurant crew hours;(5) percentage of restaurant operating hours where projected crew hoursor number of staff personnel was greater than the actual needed,percentage of food safety checks completed on time; (6) percentage ofequipment preventive maintenance completed on time; (7) front counter(FC) service time (for example; (8) average FC service time, percentageof hours in which average service time was under a target time; (9)percentage of customers served under the target time); (10) drive-thru(DT) service time (for example, average time from customer order toorder presentment to customer, average time from customer arriving at orleaving the cashier window to order presentment to customer); (11) timefor a crew member to provide an order item or items in a ready conditionto fill an order; (12) time to fill an order after the order items arein a ready condition to fill an order; (13) frequency and number ofrestaurant travel path inspections made by the shift manager (or otherdesignated personnel) in a predetermined time period and comparedrelative to a target number and frequency; and (14) customer vehiclecounts (total at restaurant or limited to drive-thru vehicles) in apredetermined time period and compared to a projected number ofvehicles. All of the foregoing parameters can be compared relative topreset target values. The target values can be selected and determined,such as based on efficient restaurant operating practices andprocedures. The metrics can be displayed in a human readable format,such as a table, graph or other type of report. The shift manager personor persons can utilize the report to identify any deficiencies and toimprove performance of the restaurant.

In one embodiment, the restaurant management system has an order inputinterface for obtaining food order data, a service input interface forobtaining point-of-sale service data and a task completion input device.The task completion input device has a human readable display and aninput interface capable of receiving an input from a human indicatingcompletion of restaurant tasks. The task completion input device hasprogram code capable of indicating a task to be completed on the humanreadable display and program code for generating restaurant taskcompletion data.

The restaurant management system also has a computer system connected tothe order input interface and the service input interface. The computersystem is capable of receiving food order data from the order inputinterface, point-of-sale service data from the service input interfaceand restaurant task completion data from the task completion inputdevice. The computer system has computer program code capable ofgenerating restaurant performance data based on data selected from thefood order data, the point-of-sale service data, and the restaurant taskcompletion data.

The restaurant management system also has first and second computerprogram codes, both operable by the computer system. The first computerprogram code is capable of transforming the restaurant performance data,task completion data and staffing level data into metrics. The secondcomputer program code is capable of providing a report summarizingstaffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics includingservice times, maintenance and food safety metrics.

In another aspect of the invention, the restaurant management system hasan order input interface for obtaining food order data, a service inputinterface for obtaining point-of-sale service data and a task completioninput device. The task completion input device has a human readabledisplay and an input interface capable of receiving an input from ahuman indicating completion of restaurant tasks. The task completioninput device has program code capable of indicating a task to becompleted on the human readable display and program code for generatingrestaurant task completion data.

The restaurant management system also has a computer system connected tothe order input interface and the service input interface. The computersystem is capable of receiving food order data from the order inputinterface, point-of-sale service data from the service input interfaceand restaurant task completion data from the task completion inputdevice. The computer system has computer program code capable ofgenerating restaurant performance data based on data selected from thefood order data, the point-of-sale service data, and the restaurant taskcompletion data.

The restaurant management system also has first computer program code,which is operable by the computer system and is capable of receivingstaffing level data and forecasting future staffing level needs based atleast in part on the restaurant performance data and task completiondata.

The restaurant management system may also have second and third computerprogram codes, both operable by the computer system. The second computerprogram code is capable of transforming the restaurant performance data,task completion data and staffing level data into metrics. The thirdcomputer program code is capable of providing a report summarizingstaffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics includingservice times, maintenance and food safety metrics.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a restaurantmanagement system for a restaurant having a vehicle drive-thru serviceis provided. The drive-thru restaurant management system includes avehicle drive-thru order station having a customer order input devicefor transmitting drive-thru order data.

The drive-thru restaurant management system includes a task completioninput device and a computer system. The task completion input device hasa human readable display, an input interface capable of receiving aninput from a human indicating completion of restaurant tasks, programcode capable of indicating a task to be completed on the human readabledisplay, and program code for generating restaurant task completiondata. The computer system is connected to the customer order inputdevice, the service input interface and is capable of receivingdrive-thru order data, vehicle data, service data and restaurant taskcompletion data. The computer system has computer program code capableof generating restaurant performance data based on data selected fromthe order data, the vehicle data, service data and the restaurant taskcompletion data.

The drive-thru restaurant management system has (1) computer programcode operable by the computer system capable of receiving staffing levelinput or forecasting staffing level needs, (2) computer program codeoperable by the computer system and capable of transforming the orderdata, the vehicle data, the service data and the restaurant taskcompletion data into metrics and (3) computer program code operable bythe computer system and capable of providing a report summarizingstaffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics includingservice times, and maintenance or food safety metrics.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a method of managing arestaurant with a computerized system for restaurant management isprovided. The computerized system for restaurant management may be aspreviously described and may include an order input interface forobtaining food order data, a service input interface for obtainingpoint-of-sale service data, and a task completion input device. The taskcompletion input device has a human readable display and an inputinterface capable of receiving an input from a human indicatingcompletion of restaurant tasks. The input device has program codecapable of indicating a task to be completed on the human readabledisplay and program code for generating restaurant task completion data.

The restaurant management system may also have a computer systemconnected to the order input interface and the service input interface.The computer system is capable of receiving food order data from theorder input interface, point-of-sale service data from the service inputinterface and restaurant task completion data from the task completioninput device. The computer system has computer program code capable ofgenerating restaurant performance data based on data selected from thefood order data, point-of-sale service data, and restaurant taskcompletion data.

The restaurant management system has first and second computer programcode operable by the computer system. The first computer program code iscapable of transforming the restaurant performance data, task completiondata and staffing level data into metrics. The second computer programcode is capable of providing a report summarizing staffing levels,metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics including service times,and maintenance or food safety metrics.

The method of managing a restaurant with a computerized system forrestaurant management includes obtaining (1) food order data from theorder input interface; (2) point-of-sale service data from the serviceinput interface; and optionally (3) the task completion data from thetask completion input device; the computer system receiving datacomposed of the food order data, the point-of-sale service data and theoptional task completion data; transforming the food order data, thepoint-of-sale data and the optional task completion data into metricswith the first computer program code; producing a report by the computersystem; and outputting the report in a human-readable format. The reportsummarizes staffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metricsincluding service times, and maintenance or food safety metrics.

The method can further include identifying at least one restaurantoperating deficiency and making one or more changes to restaurantoperations to eliminate or reduce the deficiency. The deficiency can beautomatically determined by the restaurant management system and notedon a report generated by the restaurant management system. Correctiveaction can be taken by a restaurant employee, such as the restaurantshift manager, for example. The corrective action may be to increase orreduce staffing based on metrics determined by the restaurant managementsystem for a particular operating shift or shifts, to decrease employeeabsenteeism, to change procedure to meet predetermined targets, such asimproving (reducing) customer service times, and improving employeeefficiency and reaction time, for example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic and block diagram of a restaurant managementsystem of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a restaurant incorporating a restaurantmanagement system of the present invention.

FIGS. 3-4 are flow diagrams of various aspects of one embodiment of arestaurant management system of the present invention.

FIGS. 5-7 are sample reports output by a system in accordance with theinvention. FIG. 5 is a restaurant specific report for one day. FIG. 6 isa shift manager specific report for one week. FIG. 7 is a reportcomparing restaurants over a month.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The systems and methods of the present invention enable the shift orstore manager or a higher or a different level person, such assupervisors, consultants or anyone else as desired to obtain anindication of the key performance indicators. Where the actualperformance indicators are not met, corrective action can be taken sothat more efficient operation is achieved.

The present invention is particularly suited for use in a quick servicerestaurant 101. In one embodiment, the invention is a restaurantmanagement system, shown in block diagram form in FIG. 1 as restaurantmanagement system 100. FIG. 1 shows the components of restaurantmanagement system 100 in a schematic and block diagram with connectionsbetween components of restaurant management system 100 shown by dashedlines. FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a restaurant 101 having restaurantmanagement system 100. Restaurant management system 100 includes anorder input interface, a service input interface, a task completiondevice, a drive-thru lane having vehicle detectors, and a computersystem. The order input interface may be an order input interface 102,which is part of a point-of-sale (“POS”) device 104. Device 104 has akeyboard 106 for entering orders, a human readable display 108 forviewing orders, a cash drawer, and an electronic payment processor.Device 104 may be operated by a crew person or customer attendant Ainside restaurant 101 who enters orders from customers inside restaurant101 into order input interface 102.

The order input interface may be an order input interface 110, which ispart of a customer-operated kiosk 112 which can be located in restaurant101 as shown in FIG. 2. Kiosk 112 has a human-readable display 114 fordisplaying the order and for displaying items to order. Display 114 maybe touch sensitive allowing a customer to select items displayed ondisplay 114 by touching display 114 where the item is displayed. Kiosk112 typically can accept payment through a bill reader, coin acceptor,and an electronic payment processor such as credit card/debit cardreader.

The service input interface may be an interface 120. Interface 120 istypically located in the kitchen or food preparation area of restaurant101. Interface 120 is associated with a food preparation display 122 fordisplaying food items to be prepared by the kitchen staff. Interface 120is a signaling device and may be, for example, what is known as a “bumpbar” 124 which typically has a keyboard or input buttons generallyhaving less than 10 keys or buttons. Bump bar 124 usually has adedicated key or button for indicating that the preparation of a fooditem or part of an order is complete, and is a human-operable signalingdevice.

The service input interface may be an interface 130 for indicating thatan order has been served to a customer. Interface 130 is part of POSdevice 104. POS device 104 may have dedicated keys on keyboard 106 forindicating service of an order. Interface 130 is typically used by thecustomer attendant who entered the order in POS device 104.

The service input interface may be interface 134 located adjacent kiosk112. Interface 134 can have a dedicated keyboard 136. Interface 134 maybe used with a dedicated display 138 for displaying orders to be served.Interface 134 and display 138 may be used by a crew person or customerattendant A who collects food made in the kitchen, assembles the orderand serves the order to customers who placed an order via kiosk orkiosks 112.

Restaurant management system 100 preferably also includes a taskcompletion input device 150. Device 150 has a display 152, inputinterface 154, and code 156 and 158. Display 152 can display tasks withan indication of which tasks have been completed and which remain to becompleted. Input interface 154 allows a user to indicate completion of arestaurant task, such as a maintenance task, a food safety task, anemployee training task or an inspection task. Input interface 154 mayhave both keys and a touch reader in conjunction with display 152, ifdisplay 152 is touch sensitive, for example. Computer program code 156is capable of indicating a restaurant task to be completed on display152. Computer program code 158 is for generating restaurant taskcompletion data based on input through input interface 154. Device 150is preferably handheld. Device 150 may be a personal digital assistant(PDA) including Pocket PC based or Palm based PDAs, for example.

Restaurant management system 100 may also be used in a restaurant 101having a drive-thru lane 176 which typically can accommodate a pluralityof vehicles V1-V9 as shown in FIG. 2. Typically, drive-thru lane 176 canhave one or more order stations 178 and 178′. Order stations 178 and178′ each have a menu display, a speaker 180, a microphone 181, andoptionally a display for displaying the order and a camera. Speaker 180and microphone 181 allow a customer at order station 178, in this casein vehicle V5, to converse with a crew person or customer attendant Bvia an attendant's microphone 182 and speaker 183. In particular,speaker 183 can play a verbal order detected by microphone 181.Typically microphone 182 and speaker 183 are part of a headset worn bycustomer attendant B. The camera is typically connected to a monitor inthe restaurant so that attendant B can look at the monitor and identifyvehicle V5 at order station 178. Attendant B can take an order from thecustomer and place the order through a drive-thru order input interface184. Attendant B may be in restaurant 101 as shown in FIG. 2 or at alocation (not shown) remote from restaurant 101, which may handledrive-thru orders from several restaurants.

Alternatively or in addition, there can be an order station 186 whichhas a menu display. Order station 186 may be located inside or outsideof the restaurant and may have an order input interface 188 and may bethe same or similar to kiosk 112 permitting a customer to place an orderwithout the intervention of a customer attendant.

After placing an order, typically a drive-thru customer drives to apayment station, such as a payment window, to pay for the order.Typically the payment window will have customer attendant B whopreviously took the order from the customer at order station 186 oranother attendant who may be located at or near a payment window, forexample. Order station 186 can also be co-located with the paymentwindow. Generally, order input interface 184 is located adjacent thepayment window and is part of a POS device 190, which can be the same oridentical to POS device 104. POS devices 104 and 190 can be any suitabletype of point-of-sale (POS) device and typically will be an electronicPOS device as is well known in the art and may include a dedicated or aremote computer processor. POS device 190 has a display 192. POS devices104 and 190 can have keyboards, but they can have touch sensitivedisplays instead of keyboards. In which case, the touch sensitivedisplays can be input interfaces 102, 130, or 184.

After paying for an order, typically a drive-thru customer drives to afood delivery area where the ordered food can be delivered to thecustomer. The food delivery area may be adjacent to a delivery window.Near the food delivery area can be a service input interface 194 forindicating service of an order to a drive-thru customer. Service inputinterface 194 can be functionally and structurally the same as serviceinput interfaces 120 or 134. For example, it can be part of POS device190.

Service input interfaces 120, 130, 134 and 194 preferably have adedicated bump key that a customer attendant can press for indicatingthat an order has been served to a customer or that a food item, anorder or part of an order has been prepared. Respective service inputdisplays 122, 108, 138 and 192, when the system is in use, display atleast part of the time an order or portion of an order to be prepared orserved. Different orders or portions of different orders may be shownsimultaneously. Pressing the bump key indicates that an order or portionof an order displayed on the respective service input display isprepared or served and generates POS service data for that order orportion of an order at the service input interface. Pressing the bumpkey generally causes the associated displays to no longer display theprepared or served order or portion of an order and to display adifferent order or portion of an order to be prepared or served instead.Any suitable selection device such as a mouse or track ball can be usedin addition to or instead of a bump key. A non-dedicated key could be abump key. For purposes of this patent, keys include buttons.

To track the speed of service provided to a drive-thru customer,drive-thru lane 176 may have at a desired location or locations withrespect to drive-thru lane 176, one or more vehicle detectors at adesired location or locations, including at or prior to the entrance ofdrive-thru lane 176, for example. Drive-thru lane 176 may have one ormore order area vehicle detectors 200, one or more first service waitingarea vehicle detectors 202, and one or more second service waiting areavehicle detectors 204. There is one vehicle detector 200 for detectingvehicles adjacent to or upstream of each order station 178 or 186. Thereis one vehicle detector 202 for each cashier window for detectingvehicles adjacent to each cashier window and one vehicle detector 204for each food delivery area for detecting vehicles in the food deliveryarea. Vehicle detectors 200, 202 and 204 detect the presence of avehicle. Vehicle detectors 200, 202 and 204 may be any suitable vehicledetector including, for example, an in-ground loop detector thatelectromagnetically detects the presence of a vehicle, an air hosevehicle detector having an air pressure switch, or an occupancydetector.

Order input interfaces 102, 110, 184 and 188 are also connected to acomputer system 208 so that the computer system 208 may receive foodorder data from the order input interfaces. Food order data can includefood types ordered (such as hamburger or chicken sandwich), volumes ofthe ordered food types (such as 1 or 2 hamburgers), special instructions(such as “no mayonnaise”), an identifier for the order input interface,an identifier identifying the order such as an order number and a “timestamp.” It is contemplated that food order data generated by the orderinput interfaces does not include an identifier for the order. The timestamp may be generated by pressing a key for entering the first iteminto an order or a first item requiring preparation in the kitchen. Thetime stamp may be generated when a key is pressed indicating that thetaking of the order is complete.

Service input interfaces 120, 130, 134 and 194 are connected to computersystem 208 so that computer system 208 can receive service data from theservice input interfaces indicating service of the order or completionof preparation of part of the order. The POS service data may include(1) a “time stamp” marking the specific time that a bump key is pressedor another action is made via the service input interfaces indicatingthat an order or a portion of an order has been completed or served, or(2) an indication that an order or a portion of an order has beencompleted or served. The POS service data may also include an identifieridentifying the order such as an order number.

Vehicle detectors, such as vehicle detectors 200, 202 and 204 areconnected to computer system 208 so that computer system 208 can receivevehicle presence data indicating the presence of a customer vehicle. Thevehicle presence data may indicate the presence of a vehicle, thenon-presence of a vehicle, the time when a vehicle arrived, or the timewhen a vehicle left. Vehicle detectors 200, 202 and 204 are thus alsoservice input interfaces and have time input interfaces. While theillustrated embodiment utilizes three vehicle sensors, it is to beunderstood that any desired number can be utilized depending on theinput data that is desired. For example, a single vehicle sensor couldbe used, if desired, to indicate arrival or departure of a vehicle at adesired location, such as the drive-thru order station 178 or 186. Thecrew person/cashier making or concluding contact with the customer couldbe used in place of a respective vehicle sensor at a cashier window andfood delivery window, for example.

Computer system 208 can have a processor 210, a first computer, a secondcomputer and various computer codes. In a preferred embodiment,processor 210 receives the food order data, the service data, and thevehicle presence data directly from the order input interfaces, theservice input interfaces and the vehicle detectors. The order inputinterfaces, the service input interfaces, and the vehicle detectors maybe connected to processor 210 by any suitable connection capable oftransmitting the food order data, the service data and the vehiclepresence data, respectively, between the interfaces and processor 210.

Another source of data is customer feedback data. Customer feedback datacan be obtained in any suitable manner. Examples include questionnaires,a 1-800 number and surveys, such as customer satisfaction surveys(“CSS”). Such data can be input by any suitable manner into restaurantmanagement system 100.

Processor 210 may be directly connected to displays 108, 122 and 192 ifthey do not have a processor so that the displays display the orderbeing entered or the order being served, for example. Processor 210 mayalso be indirectly connected to displays 108, 122 and 192. Processor 210may include any suitable computer processor as are known by thoseskilled in the art.

Computer system 208 has computer program codes 212 and 214, operable byprocessor 210 or first or second computers. Codes 212 and 214 may bestored on a hard drive, an EPROM, or other media connected to processor210. Code 212 is capable of managing the orders. An exemplary embodimentof code 212 is displayed in FIG. 3. In step 216, code 212 receives foodorder data including food type and volume from any one of the orderinput interfaces. In step 218, code 212 causes the display of part orall of the order on display 122 in the kitchen until receiving servicedata from service input interface 120 indicating that the displayedorder or portion of the order has been prepared. In step 220, code 212causes the display of the order on the display associated with theservice input interface until receiving service data from the serviceinput interface indicating that the order has been served. Theassociated service input interface is the one used for serving foodordered at the order input interface in step 216. After completing step216, code 212 may not end, but could return to step 216. To assist withthe tracking of orders, code 212 may assign an identifier to each order.

Code 214 is capable of generating restaurant performance data based onthe food order data and the service data. Code 214 may be separate fromcode 212 or may be intermingled with code 212. Code 214 will bediscussed in relation to FIG. 4. In step 222, code 212 assigns a starttime to an order received in step 216 of FIG. 3. The start time may beassigned based on vehicle presence data from vehicle detector 200 at oneof order stations 178 or 186, initiation of the order at any of theorder input interfaces, or entry of the order at any of the order inputinterfaces.

In step 224, code 214 determines whether the order is a drive-thruorder. Depending on whether the order is a drive-thru order or not, code214 proceeds to step 226 (for a drive-thru order) or to steps 228 and230 (for an in-store order). In step 226, code 214 assigns a paymenttime. The payment time may be assigned based on vehicle presence data atthe cashier window from detector 202 or may be based on the tender ofpayment at POS device 190 or self order station 186. The tender ofpayment may be indicated by an input made via interfaces 184 and 188,such as hitting a “tender” key which opens up the cash drawer of POSdevice 190 or feeding currency or a credit card into a bill reader orcredit card reader, respectively, of interface 188 of order station 186.

In step 228, when step 218 initially occurs, processor 210 assigns aninitial kitchen display time for representing the time when an order isfirst on display 122. The initial kitchen display time may be assignedbased on the time when an order is first available for display, i.e.,when an order is accepted by restaurant management system 100. Theinitial kitchen display time may be based on an input via interfaces 102and 110, such as hitting a “tender” key which opens up the cash drawerof POS device 104 or feeding currency into a bill reader of interface110 of kiosk 112. In step 230, processor 210 assigns a final kitchendisplay time based on receiving service data from interface 120indicative of completion of a displayed portion of the order. In step232, processor 210 assigns a service time corresponding to service ofthe order from service data received from a service input interface orfrom vehicle presence data from vehicle detector 204. From the varioustimes assigned in steps 222, 226, 228, 230 and 232, processor 210generates restaurant performance data for the order. Restaurantperformance data can include a total service time datum from initiatingor receiving an order to service of the order, a service time datum frominitiating or receiving an order to tender of a payment in drive-thrulane 176, a service time datum representative of order preparation timein the kitchen, and an order time datum between initiating and receivingan order.

First computer 240 is connected to processor 210 and through processor210 to interfaces 102, 110, 120, 130 and 134 so that computer 240 canreceive food order data and the restaurant performance data. Device 150is connected to a computer 240 so that computer 240 can receive taskcompletion data. Alternatively, task completion data can be manuallyentered into computer 240. Computer 240 may have a display 242, keyboard244, memory and a central processing unit. Computer 240 may be connectedto a printer 246. Computer 240 may have USB, parallel, and serial ports,and Ethernet or wireless networking capabilities for making theconnections discussed above. Computer 240 preferably has a media reader248 for reading a computer readable medium 250. Media reader 248 may bea CD or DVD drive, for example. Examples of computer readable storagemedia 250 include CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, floppydisk, hard drive, flash drives, multimedia cards, SD cards, EEPROM,EPROM, ROM and other computer-readable, tangible, storage media capableof persistent storage of data without the need for external power.Medium 250 has various program codes encoded on it. The program codeswill be discussed in greater detail after the hardware is discussed.Preferably computer 240 has several media readers including a fixedmedia reader such as a hard drive and a changeable media reader such asCD or a DVD drive.

Computer 240 may be located at restaurant 101 or at a remote location.Computer 240 may be connected to a computer 256. In a preferredembodiment, computer 240 is located at restaurant 101 and is connectedby the internet to computer 256, which is remote from restaurant 101.Computer 256 may be connected by the internet to second, third andfourth computers 240 located at second, third and fourth restaurants,respectively. Computer 256 can have the same type of hardware ascomputer 240.

Computer 240 may be connected directly or indirectly to other devicesfor receiving staffing level input including staffing schedules,employee time punches or combinations thereof. Computer 240 may receivestaffing level input from processor 210 or computer 256. Computer 240may receive staffing level input from an employee “punch” clock 260. Anysuitable punch clock for recording time punches such as those at thestart and end of an employee work shift may be used for clock 260. Thestaffing level input from clock 260 may be entered manually intoprocessor 210 or computers 240 or 256 or automatically by any suitableconnection capable of transmitting information between clock 260 andcomputer 240 or 256.

Displays 108, 138, 152, 192 and 242 are human readable. Suitable typesof displays include LCD, LED, CRT, plasma and projection displays.

The connections within restaurant management system 100 may include aninternet connection, particularly if order input interface 184 is remotefrom restaurant 101. Suitable connections, depending on the componentsbeing connected include Ethernet, Internet, infrared, wireless, wi-fi,serial such as RS-232, USB, and any other suitable connection as may beknown in the art. The connections may be direct or indirect. Theconnections need not be permanent or physical as in a wired connectionor be constant, i.e., connections can be made wirelessly on an as neededbasis and disconnected when no communication on the connection isnecessary.

Computer system 208 has program codes 264, 266 and 268. Any one of thesecodes may be executed by processor 210, computer 240, second computer256 or a combination of the three and the codes can be readily writtenby those of ordinary skill in the art. Code 264 is capable of receivingstaffing level input, forecasting staffing level needs, or both. Code266 is capable of transforming data into metrics. Code 268 is capable ofproviding a report summarizing staffing levels, metrics and targets formetrics, the metrics including service times, and maintenance or foodsafety metrics. Codes 264, 266, 268 may be separate from each other orthey may be intermingled. Portions of codes 264, 266 and 268 may be runon processor 210, computer 240 or computer 256, while other portions arerun elsewhere on processor 210, computer 240 or computer 256.

Code 264 may have forecasting code 270. Forecasting code 270 can beprojected sales, the number of guests or orders, and car counts. Theforecasts are preferably made in time increments of from 5, 15, 30, andhourly or some other time segment less than a day. Forecasting code 270can also project staffing needs. The staffing level needs may beprojected from the projected sales, guest counts, number of orders, andcar counts. Forecasting code 270 may take into account the salescharacteristics of restaurant 101 such as whether restaurant 101frequently encounters spikes in ordering due to the arrival of tourbuses, the end of a movie at a nearby movie theater, or similar. Code264 may have code 272 for receiving staffing level input directly orindirectly from punch clock 260.

Projections may be estimated by processor 210, computer 240, computer256 or another computer using historical sales data of the specificrestaurant and/or like restaurants. The projections may factor in theday of the week, the time of day, the month, the season, certainconditions or events like whether a local school is in session or not,etc. The projections may be prepared by a manager or may be based on acomputer projection with appropriate adjustments by a manager.

Code 266 transforms data into metrics. For purposes of this patent, ametric is a measure for which there is a target against which a metriccan be directly compared. In particular, if there is a target for anaverage service time over 1 hour but not one for an average service timeover 30 minutes, then average service time over 1 hour is a metric butthe average service time over 30 minutes is merely a statistic. Targetscan take the form of minima, maxima, and ranges. Targets may be store-or manager-specific. Code 266 may calculate metrics by averaging,totaling, and rationing data, for example. The data that can betransformed into metrics by code 266 includes food order data,restaurant performance data, and restaurant task completion data. Code266 may calculate actual staffing level needs from the actual salesvolume, number of guests, number or orders, and car counts. Code 266 mayalso calculate variability measures such as a variance or a standarddeviation.

Code 266 may reside in part at computer 240 and in part at computer 256.In a preferred embodiment, computer 256 has a database, preferablyrelational, containing data and metrics for first, second, third,fourth, etc. restaurants. Computer 240 obtains or receives data fromprocessor 210. Computer 240 may summarize the data by calculatingstatistics, totals and metrics for discrete time segments, e.g., hourlysegments, using a portion of code 266. The summarized data typicallyincludes information as to who the shift manager is. Computer 240 mayhave code for sending the summarized data to computer 256. Computer 256may have a portion of code 266 and can complete the transformation ofdata into metrics on a regular basis or on an as-need basis.

Code 268 generates one or more reports based on the metrics produced bycode 266 and the forecasts or projections produced by code 266.Programming of codes 156, 158, 212, 214, 264, 266, and 268 can beachieved by one of skill in the computer arts.

FIGS. 5-7 are examples of sample reports that may be output by code 268.Each of these reports includes target values for each of the keyperformance indicators and actual results achieved over an indicatedperiod of time. FIG. 5 is a restaurant specific report for one day. FIG.6 is a shift manager performance indicator report for a desired periodof time, which may be one week, for example, or five days, or some otherperiod of time as desired. FIG. 7 is a report comparing a group or“patch” of restaurants individually and combined over a one-monthperiod.

Each of FIGS. 5-7 has a row number on the left and column number alongthe bottom for ease of reference. FIGS. 5-7 generally have similar rows.In row 1, the report type is identified. In row 2, the relevant store ormanager is identified. In row 3, the date range of the report isidentified. Daily, weekly and monthly ranges are shown. Quarterly,annual and other time ranges are possible. Rows 4 and 5 are used tolabel the columns that are to be compared such as specific dates,shifts, managers, and restaurants.

Rows 7-9 and 24 are used to compare actual numbers versus projectednumbers. Row 7 is used to show the absolute and relative differencebetween the actual and projected volume of sales. Sales projectionaccuracy is the total sales variance as a percentage of the total salesfor the shift. In FIG. 6, the total projected sales for the 7 hourlyperiods between 4:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. was short −$190. To calculatethe percentage the −$190 is divided by the projected sales and roundedto a whole number (5%). The Sales Projection Accuracy helps provideadditional perspective as to how accurate the projections were on yourshift. The higher the percentage variance the shorter the restaurant maybe of crew personnel. You should monitor the sales projection accuracyand inform the restaurant manager and scheduling manager of problems.

Row 8 is used to compare the actual number of guests or orders to theprojected number. The first number in columns 3-8 of FIG. 5 of row 8shows the absolute difference between the actual number of guests ororders and the projected number. Preferably, the actual number is forthe total number of orders, but the actual number may exclude drive-thruorders. The second number indicates the percentage of time or hourswhere the number of guests or orders is within ±10 (or some other valueas desired) of the projected number. The Guest Count ProjectionEfficiency is an indicator as to how accurate the Guest Countprojections are for your shift. The higher the percentage the better. Ifthe Guest Count efficiency is consistently low this could indicate aproblem with the crew scheduling.

Row 10 of FIGS. 5 and 7 and row 9 of FIG. 6 indicate the percentage oftime, usually the percentage of hours, where the actual or projectednumber of staff (e.g., restaurant crew members) exceeded the actualamount needed. If the projections are accurate and the correct number ofcrew was scheduled the rest of the results are analyzed. If theprojections did not meet the targets or you begin to notice certainday-parts where the projections are too low or over projected or youhave too little or too many crew you should notify the schedulingmanager and restaurant manager.

Row 24 is used to show the difference between the number of vehiclesserved via the drive-thru lane against the number projected for aparticular time period, such as 1 hour, for example.

Rows 11-13 of FIGS. 5 and 7 and rows 10-13 of FIG. 6 also relate tocomparisons between actual and projected labor efficiency. The firstnumber in columns 3-8 of FIGS. 5 and 6 of row 12 shows the absolutedifference between the actual number of employee hours worked and thescheduled number of employee hours. The second number indicates thepercentage of time or hours when the actual number of employee hoursworked was within 1 hour of the scheduled number of employee hours. Thefirst number in columns 3-8 of FIGS. 5 and 6 of row 13 shows theabsolute difference between the actual number of employee hours workedand the number of employee hours needed. The second number of row 13indicates the percentage of time or hours when the actual number ofemployee hours worked was equal or above the amount needed. This dataindicates how well labor needs were managed by the responsible manager,such as the shift manager, based on the labor requirements needed hoursversus scheduled hours and also actual hours versus needed hours.

The above comparisons between actual, projected and needed numbers couldalso include, in addition to or as a replacement to those shown in FIGS.5-7, the actual, projected or needed absolute numbers.

Rows under the QSC category (row 14) in FIGS. 5-7 relate to theparameters of quality, service and cleanliness. More specifically, thesecategories are split into shift responsibility of the shift manager(food safety, equipment preventive maintenance, restaurant travel pathcompletions (inspections of overall restaurant) and SOC (stationobservation checklist) completion as to designated equipment and shifttargets (counter service times, drive-thru service times (from customerplacing an order to presentment of the order to the customer and fromcustomer payment to presentment of the order to the customer) and KVS(bump bar) reaction time. The goal of the shift manager is to meet orexceed the targets specified for each shift. If the staffing levels fora shift are reasonably accurate (enough crew to handle the volume) thenthe objective is to hit the targets defined for each key performanceindicator category. If the established target is not met, the shiftmanager evaluates what happened on the shift and takes correctiveaction.

Rows 15, 16, 21 and 22 of FIGS. 5-7 relate to task completion data. Row15 is used to indicate the percentage of food safety tasks completed ontime. Row 16 is used to indicate the percentage of preventivemaintenance tasks completed on time. Row 21 is used to indicate thenumber of general inspections completed. The first number in columns 3-8of FIGS. 5-6 of row 21 represents the number of general inspectionscompleted on time. The second number represents the percentage ofrequired inspections that were timely made. Row 22 is used to representthe completion of employee training sessions that are completed on time.

Rows 17-20 of FIGS. 5-7 relate to service time statistics and metrics.The first number in columns 3-8 of rows 17-20 of FIGS. 5-6 is an averageservice time. The second number represents the percentage of hours wherethe average service time for the hour is within a target service time.The second number indirectly gives a sense of the variability of theaverage service time for a given hour. Other measures of variability mayalso be given in addition to or instead of the second number. The firstnumber in columns 3-8 of row 17 of FIGS. 5-6 is the average amount oftime it takes for an order to be served to a customer whose order isplaced through order input interfaces 102 or 110. The first number incolumns 3-8 of FIGS. 5-6 of row 18 represents the average amount of timeit takes for a drive-thru order to be served to a customer whose orderis placed through order input interfaces 184 or 188. The first number incolumns 3-8 of row 19 of FIGS. 5-6 represents the average amount of timeit takes for an order to be served after an order is paid for. The firstnumber in columns 3-8 of row 20 of FIGS. 5-6 represents the averageamount of time it takes for a sandwich to be prepared or to be madeready for service in response to an order.

The reports shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 have essentially identical formats.Column 1 shows the title for each row. Column 2 is for targets. Columns3-7 display data, statistics and metrics for the periods indicated inrows 2-5. Column 8 is a summary column showing summary data, statisticsand metrics.

The format of the report shown in FIG. 7 is similar to the reports ofFIGS. 5 and 6. The principal exception is that FIG. 7 includes forcedranking scores for a restaurant group or patch, which is a group ofrestaurants that is, for example, owned by the same person or having thesame patch manager. Columns 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 are for displayingranking scores of the performance of the restaurants indicated in row 4for the metrics, statistics and data shown in rows 8-10, 12, 13, 15-22and 24. Row 26 contains a sum of the ranking scores. Row 27 displaysoverall rankings based on the sum of the ranking scores. It is to beunderstood that the reports can include any data that is availableand/or desired and that all of the metrics and data do not have to beranked or otherwise included in a report.

The reports may also have suitable indicators to draw attention to adeficiency or a particularly good result, for example. The indicatorsmay be black and white or colored highlighting, flags and trendindicators, such as up and down arrows. The flags can take differentforms to draw the attention of the shift manager or other person usingthe report to metrics that do not meet targets, to metrics that aresubstantially below targets, and to metrics that substantially exceedtargets or as otherwise desired. Trend indicators may be used to showsignificant changes in metrics or rankings relative to some previoustime period. Flags and trend indicators may be shown by the use ofdifferent colors or graphical indicia such as up and down arrow signs.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferredembodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it isto be understood that the invention is capable of numerous changes,modifications and rearrangements and such changes, modifications andrearrangements are intended to be covered by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for restaurant management comprising: anorder input interface for obtaining food order data; a service inputinterface for obtaining point-of-sale service data; a task completioninput device, the task completion input device having a human readabledisplay and an input interface capable of receiving an input from ahuman indicating completion of restaurant tasks, the input device havingprogram code capable of indicating a task to be completed on the humanreadable display and program code for generating restaurant taskcompletion data; a computer system connected to the order inputinterface and the service input interface, the computer system capableof receiving food order data from the order input interface,point-of-sale service data from the service input interface andrestaurant task completion data from the task completion input device,the computer system having computer program code capable of generatingrestaurant performance data based on data selected from the food orderdata, point-of-sale service data, and restaurant task completion data; afirst computer program code operable by the computer system and capableof transforming the restaurant performance data, task completion dataand staffing level data into metrics; and a second computer program codeoperable by the computer system and capable of providing a reportsummarizing staffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, themetrics including service times, and maintenance or food safety metrics.2. The system of claim 1 wherein the metrics are selected from the groupconsisting of shift metrics, quality metrics, service metrics,cleanliness metrics and profit metrics.
 3. The system of claim 2 whereinthe shift metrics are selected from the group consisting of salesprojection accuracy, customer count projection efficiency, projectedneeded staffing efficiency, actual restaurant crew hours compared toscheduled crew hours, actual restaurant crew hours compared to scheduledcrew hours, actual crew hours compared to needed crew hours.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein the quality metrics are selected from thegroup consisting of food safety completion checks and equipmentpreventive maintenance.
 5. The system of claim 2 wherein the servicemetrics are selected from the group consisting of percentage and/ornumber of front counter service times within a prescribed time limit forservice, average drive-thru order time to order presentment, averagecashier time to present to drive-thru customer.
 6. The system of claim 1wherein the restaurant tasks are selected from at least one of the groupconsisting of restaurant operation tasks and food safety tasks.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the task completion input device is a handheldinput device.
 8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a remotecomputer, wherein the first and second computer program codes areindividually executable on at least a selected one of the computersystem and the remote computer.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein thefood order data comprises data selected from the group consisting ofprice, type and quantity of food and the point-of-sale service datacomprises data selected from the group consisting of elapsed time fromorder initiation to order completion, elapsed time from order initiationto order presentment, elapsed time from order payment to orderpresentment and elapsed time from food item completion to food itemprocurement by a restaurant crew member.
 10. The system of claim 1further comprising a point-of-sale device in the restaurant, thepoint-of-sale device comprising the order input interface and a humanreadable display for displaying customer order data including dataselected from the group consisting of the type, price and quantity ofthe items ordered.
 11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a humanreadable service display connected to the computer system, the servicedisplay capable of displaying orders to be served, the display viewablefrom the service input interface, wherein the service input interface isa human-operable signaling device.
 12. The system of claim 11 whereininputting information indicating service of the order or completion ofpreparation of the order through the human-operable signaling devicecauses the service display to no longer display the served or completedorder.
 13. The system of claim 1 wherein the order input interface is avehicle drive-thru order station.
 14. The system of claim 15 furthercomprising a vehicle drive-thru order station that includes a datatransmitter for transmitting customer order data from a customer at theorder station; and a data display device for displaying the customerorder to a restaurant worker located at the order input interface. 15.The system of claim 14 wherein the data transmitter is selected from thegroup consisting of a microphone and a keypad and the data displaydevice is selected from the group consisting of a speaker and a humanreadable display.
 16. The system of claim 1 wherein the task completioninput device is a handheld device wirelessly connected to the computer.17. The system of claim 1 wherein the staffing level input is selectedfrom staffing schedules, employee time data and combinations thereof.18. A system for restaurant management comprising: an order inputinterface for obtaining food order data; a service input interface forobtaining point-of-sale service data; a task completion input device,the task completion input device having a human readable display and aninput interface capable of receiving an input from a human indicatingcompletion of restaurant tasks, the input device having program codecapable of indicating a task to be completed on the human readabledisplay and program code for generating restaurant task completion data;a computer system connected to the order input interface and the serviceinput interface, the computer system capable of receiving food orderdata from the order input interface, point-of-sale service data from theservice input interface and restaurant task completion data from thetask completion input device, the computer system having computerprogram code capable of generating restaurant performance data based ondata selected from the food order data, point-of-sale service data, andrestaurant task completion data; and a first computer program codeoperable by the computer system and capable of receiving staffing leveldata and forecasting future staffing level needs based at least in parton the restaurant performance data and staffing level data.
 19. Thesystem of claim 18 further comprising a second computer program codeoperable by the computer system and capable of transforming therestaurant performance data, task completion data and staffing leveldata into metrics; and a third computer program code operable by thecomputer system and capable of providing a report summarizing staffinglevels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics including servicetimes, and maintenance or food safety metrics.
 20. The system of claim18 wherein the restaurant tasks are selected from at least one of thegroup consisting of restaurant operation tasks and food safety tasks.